The Fifth National Crayfish Conference will be held at Giggleswick in the Yorkshire Dales on 17 - 19 August 2015. During the 6 years since the last conference, populations of native white-clawed crayfish have continued to decline across much of The British Isles, whilst the range of American signal crayfish continues to consolidate and expand. Almost uniquely in Europe, Ireland currently remains free of invasive non-native crayfish. Crayfish provide valuable case-studies of aquatic invasion, the challenges of management of non-native species and the conservation of native species faces with a range of environmental and biotic threats.

Traditional area-based conservation designations are failing to halt the decline of native crayfish, and in 2010 white-clawed crayfish was reclassified as “Endangered” on IUCN’s Red List of Endangered Species. At the same time, American signal crayfish continue to be found in new areas, and additional INNS crayfish continue to be found in the wild. Over the last 5 years, there has been growing evidence of the broader ecological and financial impacts of invasive non-native species, and INNS crayfish in particular. Partly as a result of this, biosecurity is becoming an ever more important consideration, and Defra has introduced the Check-Clean-Dry campaign.

The EU has been working towards the development of a Strategy on Invasive Alien (Non-native) Species since 2008. In 2014, The European Parliament agreed plans to prevent the introduction or halt the spread of invasive alien species. New domestic legislation has been introduced in Ireland and Scotland, and the recent Law Commission review of wildlife law is expected to result in the most significant reform of species protection legislation in England and Wales since the creation of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 1981.

The 2015 Crayfish Conference will bring together a broad range of researchers, practitioners, regulators and conservationists. Whether you are interested in crayfish in particular, or the issues related to crayfish conservation and INNS invasion in general, this will be an unmissable national conference. Based on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales within easy reach of a range of informative excursions, this will certainly be a highlight of the summer.